For a long time, it was a mystery why Kanō Sansetsu, the second head of the Kyō Kanō school, was put in prison in 1649.

However, recent research has finally begun to reveal the depths of this mystery.

It turned out that Kanō Sanraku’s second son, Iori (Kanō Sansetsu’s younger brother-in-law), had caused the financial problems that Sansetsu had become involved in.

Iori was thrown in jail for borrowing money under the false name of Sansetsu, who claimed Sansetsu had nothing to do with it.

However, Itakura Shigemune, the governor of Kyoto, said that Iori was indeed Sansetsu’s brother, though he was his brother-in-law, and that it was not right to leave him in prison without paying his brother-in-law’s debts, and ordered Sansetsu to pay his debts promptly and to take Iori’s place in prison.

Later, thanks to the efforts of the Kujō family, one of the five regent families with which Kanō Sanraku had had strong ties, Sansetsu was able to be released from prison, but he died in 1651 at the age of 62, probably from exhaustion.

Kanō Sansetsu was appointed Hōkkyō (the 3rd highest rank for Buddhist priests) in 1647, just as the Kyō Kanō school was beginning to show signs of life. Kanō Sansetsu was a painter who ended his life in misfortune.